


Forget Me Not

by dorkyduckling



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 18:13:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12064359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dorkyduckling/pseuds/dorkyduckling
Summary: Keyleth had always loved flowers. She'd grown up with so many and spent much of her childhood with them. She loved tending them, wearing them in her hair, and making them into flower crowns. Plants had always seemed to make more sense than people. Even animals at times. Plants couldn't harm her. Flowers couldn't hurt her.At least, she didn't think they could.





	Forget Me Not

**Author's Note:**

> Look I finally wrote another CR fic! And yet again I'm hurting Keyleth.....whoops. She's my favorite and this is what I do to my faves. I hope y'all like this though! I've not written a lot of CR fics and I've only published one but I don't think it sucks ;) Hopefully I can write more CR in the future but RWBY kind of owns my soul with my fic Second Chance. 
> 
> Also as a warning this hasn't been beta'd (just a quick read through by my lovely gf who is completely clueless on CR lol) so I apologize in advance. 
> 
> -JJ

Keyleth had always loved flowers. She'd grown up with so many and spent much of her childhood with them. She loved tending them, wearing them in her hair, and making them into flower crowns. Plants had always seemed to make more sense than people. Even animals at times. Plants couldn't harm her. Flowers couldn't hurt her.    
  
At least, she didn't think they could.    
  
Not until she started coughing up the blue petals of a forget-me-not flower. It was a startling surprise but she assumed it was an accident and she'd inhaled some flowers. When it kept happening though, she knew there was a problem. In fact she even thought she knew what the problem was.    
  
Growing up an ashari she'd heard of many ailments that afflicted people. The ashari even had several that afflicted just Druids. The ailment Keyleth remembered while hacking up petals was one she'd heard of only in rumor. There had been no cases in Zephrah that she knew of. It didn't mean there had been none, but she hadn't witnessed any. The disease had many names in many languages but the common translation of most was Flower Sickness. The ashari also called it Sickness of the Heart as it was tied with unrequited love.    
  
Flower Sickness came about when a creature's heart was burdened by unrequited love, whether it was actually unrequited or only perceived as such. Sufferers would start coughing up flowers related to the one they suffered for. Eventually blood would start coming up with petals and after that it progressed to vomiting blood and flowers. Flower Sickness would take about a year to kill you unless cured. The only known cure was confessing and being reciprocated. Some had found that forgetting your love could also cure it. (Keyleth found that very ironic given the flower.) However, the second cure was even more rumor than the disease itself.    
  
It seemed oddly fitting that flowers, which she loved so dearly, would forsake her and become something trying to kill her.    
  
Keyleth knew exactly who she held feelings for just looking at the petals. They were the exact same shade of blue as the feathers that adorned a certain ranger's hair. See, Keyleth did love Vax. She had strong feelings for him and had for a while. She loved him.    
  
She just loved Vex first.    
  
Keyleth had loved Vex longer than she realized. She'd loved her as far back as their days at Kraghammer. Possibly longer.    
  
The world was a cold place though. Naïveté no longer clouded her judgement on the world. She knew that Vex would never see her the same. How could she? Keyleth was nothing special. The signs pointing towards a romance with Vax didn't help. Keyleth couldn't give her half the things Vex deserved anyway. She had long accepted things the way they were. She had no idea why Flower Sickness had taken hold of her. If she had accepted she had no chance, then why did she have the disease? Did it enjoy mocking her? Perhaps it enjoyed killing those with no chance.    
  
Her choices were to accept it and die, confess and most likely still die, or seek an alternative.    
  
Keyleth decided she liked denial best.   
  
Hiding it from her party was difficult but she did her best. Someone would find out eventually but she wanted to put it off as long as she could. Eventually Vax was the first to find out. Keyleth was a terrible liar and he knew her well. It didn't help that most nights they shared a bed. Coughing up flowers was not exactly a subtle action.   
  
After an explanation Vax understood and he was willing to try to help her. She was surprised he wasn't angry or anything. He just accepted it. He started helping her her hide it and they both looked for help. They went to Allura and Kima. They visited several clerics of various faiths. They even sought out people of magic for help. None panned out. Vox Machina remained relatively clueless as Keyleth's health deteriorated.    
  
The blood started coming around month four. Vomiting wouldn't start until month eight at least, but blood had made its appearance. Keyleth had to hide blood stains on her clothes and handkerchief. Percy began getting suspicious around that time but he never asked. Her throat was raw as she coughed up flowers. Some nights she wouldn't get any sleep coughing and Vax would desperately try to rub her back to calm her. Even nights she did sleep she dreamt of forget-me-nots and feathers. Vax made a great friend through the situation as they both knew a relationship wasn't possible. Not when Keyleth was dying because she held unrequited love for his twin sister.    
  
Oddly enough Grog was the next one to find out. He came upon Keyleth outside, knelt at a bucket of water, frantically trying to wash blood stains out of her tunic. It was the middle of the night in Whitestone and she hadn't expected anyone.    
  
"Yer doin' it wrong." Grog commented, standing just behind her. Keyleth nearly jumped a foot in the air.    
  
"Grog you scared me." Keyleth clutched a wet hand to her chest, choking back some petals threatening to make themselves known.    
  
"That's not how ya get blood outta stuff. You should ask Pike, she's the best at it." Grog didn't seem concerned with scaring her.    
  
"That's alright, I think I've got it figured out." Keyleth answered. Then suddenly her chest seized and she found herself doubled over next to the bucket, coughing violently. Grog's eyes widened in concern and before she could stop him he rushed off to get Pike.   
  
That was how Pike found out.    
  
"Keyleth!" Pike hurried over to her side. She'd coughed the entire time it'd taken Grog to get Pike. She tried to wipe the blood away from her mouth discretely, but Pike was perceptive.    
  
"'M fine." Keyleth gasped. She tried to suck in a breath so she seemed fine. It didn't work very well.    
  
"What's going on?" Pike turned Keyleth towards her so she could assess the situation. Her eyes stopped on the bloodied flowers on the ground. Pike's face fell. "Oh Keyleth, who is it?"   
  
"Doesn't matter." Keyleth shrugged. Pike pulled her into a hug and Keyleth couldn't help the tears that stung her eyes.    
  
"I'm going to do everything in my power to help you. I've seen this happen before." Pike assured her.    
  
Pike and Grog were a big help after that. Pike spent a lot of time researching while Grog did his best to help Keyleth hide everything. Percy got more suspicious but he never asked or said anything. Keyleth was pretty sure he knew though.    
  
Vex and Scanlan were the only ones completely in the dark and even that didn't last. Not when month 8 hit. She was barely three days into month eight when they found out. They were walking on their way to do a job when Keyleth froze. She couldn't stop as her knees buckled and she vomited right there. Pike and Vax were at her side in an instant. Blood and blue flowers painted the grass in an ugly contrast. Vax pulled her hair back as Pike rubbed her back soothingly.   
  
"What's going on?" Vex asked, concern lacing her voice. The entire party had stopped to look at Keyleth.    
  
"She's sick." Vax answered in an extremely vague and unhelpful way. His sister rolled her eyes in annoyance at the very Vax answer.   
  
"Yes, we can see that." Vex replied dryly. Her eyes seemed to be locked on Keyleth in her worry, wanting to know what was going on.   
  
"Oh shit, Keyleth." Scanlan whistled. Keyleth figured if anyone else besides Pike knew the disease, it would be Scanlan.    
  
"As I suspected, you've been unwell for a while now haven't you?" Percy asked. Keyleth could only bob her head as she gasped for air. The flowers felt like they were clawing up her throat and her lips felt sticky.    
  
"Are those fucking flowers?" Vex asked. "How long have you been keeping this from us?"    
  
"She has a very rare disease that does this. This is what happens in month eight." Pike explained.    
  
"Eight months?! You've all been hiding this for eight months?" Vex gasped. Hurt glittered in her eyes.   
  
"I've only known about four. Same with Grog." Pike sighed. Keyleth couldn't answer or respond. Her entire body was convulsing and her vision blurred.    
  
"I've known almost all eight." Vax admitted.    
  
"Why was she hiding this?" Vex asked and Scanlan placed a hand on her arm.   
  
"Hanahaki's Disease is a disease of unrequited love. Most people who get it often hide it." Scanlan said.    
  
"Unrequited?" Vex looked to her brother in confusion.   
  
"Not for me, Stubby." Vax shook his head. Finally Keyleth could take in shallow breaths and with the help of Vax and Pike, pulled herself to her feet.    
  
"I'm sorry for hiding it." Keyleth mumbled. "I didn't want anyone to find out."   
  
"You didn't want anyone to find out you're dying." Percy said, as intuitive as ever. Vex's eyes widened and Scanlan winced.    
  
"Dying?" Vex gasped.    
  
"It's almost always fatal. The cure is reciprocation." Pike nodded.    
  
"Or forgettin'." Grog added.    
  
"Maybe." Pike seemed at a loss.    
  
"I'm sorry, I should just go home to my father. He should know that he's going to lose me and you all don't need to take care of me any longer." Keyleth admitted. She didn't want to burden Vox Machina with this anymore. Especially not with the risk of Vex finding out her feelings. She didn't want Vex feeling responsible.    
  
"That's nonsense. We're a family and we're not going to just shove you off onto your father." Vex protested.    
  
"Vex is right." Vax agreed. Keyleth wished they would just let it go.    
  
There was an argument of ten minutes before it was decided Keyleth would remain with them. They could take turns looking after her. Keyleth let that go on about a week before one night she left. She couldn't do it and as awful as she felt about it, it would be better for them.    
  
She went back to Zephrah.    
  
The time passed slowly and agonizingly. Her father said her friends tried to visit but she always denied them. Her skin lost what little color it had and she looked like a ghost. Her lips started turning blue tinted from the lack of oxygen her body was taking in. She could hardly move. The Healers took care of her to the best of their ability but even they were at a loss.    
  
When month 12 came around it was obvious Keyleth was really dying. She got her father to help her compose a letter to her friends, her family. She could only apologize for not letting them see her. She just wanted them to remember her as she was. She didn't want them to see her in the state the flowers had put her into.    
  
Eventually Keyleth's vision started growing dark and breathing became impossible. In the moment Keyleth thought it was very fitting for her love to kill her. If anything was going to take her out, this made sense. She started thinking back to all the moments she knew had caused her to love Vex. She thought about how much she loved Vex and what she loved most about her. She wanted to go out thinking about the good.    
  
Her world faded to black with Vex's face in her mind.    
  


* * *

Vox Machina walked into Zephrah like a funeral march. Korrin had sent for them to come and they all figured they were walking to a funeral. However when they were greeted by a familiar redhead, they were shocked.    
  
"Hi guys!" Keyleth grinned, waving excitedly. The entire party stood speechless, staring at her.    
  
"You're not dead!" Vax was the first to speak, his voice cracking. Keyleth frowned, confused.    
  
"Of course I'm not dead, why would I be?" Keyleth cocked her head.    
  
"Because when you left us you were dying." Percy was looking at her oddly, trying to figure out what was going on. Korrin walked up and placed a hand on Keyleth's shoulder.    
  
"Hello Vox Machina, it has been a while. I apologize. The cure we used for Keyleth has robbed her of the memory of the disease." Korrin explained. Keyleth looked at her father in confusion, not really understanding what he was talking about.    
  
"You didn't mention this in the letter." Vex commented.    
  
"I didn't want to mention much in the letter as some things are better shared in person." Korrin sighed, rubbing at his chin. They all noticed he looked far wearier than he had when they’d last seen him. Watching your only child almost die probably had plenty to do with that.    
  
"I just left to come visit home and you guys replaced me! I'm hurt." Keyleth pouted. The party exchanged some confused looks.   
  
"What?" Scanlan asked.    
  
"We didn't replace you." Pike said but she had a very bad feeling about this. Grog looked even more confused than usual.    
  
"Then who's the girl that looks kinda like Vax?" Keyleth frowned, gesturing to Vex. The entire party froze and everything grew silent. Vex's mouth dropped open.    
  
"Oh fuck." Scanlan whispered. Vex spun on her heel and jabbed her finger into her brother's chest.    
  
"Why doesn't she remember me?!" Vex screeched. Vax looked terrified as he took a step back. Pike buried her face in her hands.    
  
"Keyleth, that's Vex. Even I'm not that dumb." Grog scoffed, obviously not picking up the severity of the situation.    
  
"What happened?" Percy directed his question towards Korrin.   
  
"We saved her the only way we could." Korrin answered vaguely.    
  
"What's going on? Am I missing something?" Keyleth frowned, distress etching itself into her features.    
  
"It was you." Vax finally said, his eyes unable to meet his sister's. Vex's face fell and tears started streaming down her face.    
  
"Wait, it was?" Scanlan said, surprised.    
  
"I begged her more than once to tell you. She always refused. She didn't want you blaming yourself for her dying if you didn't feel the same way." Pike admitted. Vex was quiet as she turned to look at Keyleth.    
  
"If she would have just told me...." Vex whispered. "I love her."    
  
"Guys?" Keyleth frowned. Korrin pat his daughter on the shoulder before excusing himself.    
  
"Keyleth you got sick. Very sick with a disease that almost killed you. The only way your father had to save you was making you forget Vex." Percy explained.    
  
"Why would forgetting her save me?" Keyleth asked.    
  
"Because you loved me." Vex admitted. Keyleth seemed to think about it for a moment.    
  
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm very sure I didn't want to hurt you." Keyleth assured her.    
  
"No of course not, because you're Keyleth. But you could have saved yourself just telling me." Vex explained, a sort of desperation breaking her voice. It was too late now.   
  
"Feelings are not always easy to admit." Pike reminded her. "Even in the face of death they could be scarier."   
  
"Well..." Keyleth reached forward and took Vex's hand, smiling warmly at her. "I guess it's your job to make me remember. I loved you once, I'm sure it won't be hard to fall again."    
  
It took almost a full year for them to get Keyleth's memories of Vex back, but she fell for Vex again long before they returned.    
  


**Author's Note:**

> Find me @jcncisfan913 on Tumblr


End file.
